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OLD THOUgHTS 

FOR 

l^EW YEARS 



If he only knew 
Ecevyman 
Someday 
ihe Optimist 



V. W. B. HEDQEPETH 

JDaliimore 

19 2 1 






COPYRIGHTED 

1021 

BYVW. B. HEDGEPETH 



0CI,A6O8397 



FEB 19 1921 

''WO 



i4 Jrhilosophy of Life 

Dedicated to 
My Mother 




F tke soul is immortal, man skould 
pursue knowledge and understand- 
ing and not be rores7er cluttering 
about among tne pots and pans or Egypt. 

SelHskness, sordidness, bigotry, meanness and 
all tkeir pessimistic brood, \uvoe 
no place in an under- 
standing keart. 




IF HE ONLY KNEW 

If lie only knew thai neither li/e noc time began, 
That bicd and beast and oine and man 
TAnd all things else, ivhate'ec they be. 
Ace only bits of all Eternity. 

I hen, quickly Were his Soul released 
From fear of death and king and priest, 
And like the flowers in the garden grew, 
Man's soul Would blossom. If he only knew. 




HE waiTcious of Babylon are 
dust, and tne dreams of 
kec kings nav;e passed on to 
beconae tke dreams of otker kings. 
Heu inlgkty men and ket? sages 
are lougotten and es7en tkeiu 
names are undeclpkec- 
aole upon tke ruins 
of tke city's walls. 




EVERYMAN 

Ecetyman begins his life with dreams 
Of all thai Wealth and poWer means 
Bat at the last comes to his oU>n 
i4 mound an ucn or a cold white stone. 

Ashes to ashes and dust to dust" 
Few men willing but all men must, 
pfo matter by whom begot 
the man that Was is soon forgot. 

Vi/^hethec from palace oc field oc hut 
ihe dooc of his house is foceCev shut 
And all that remains of Wealth and fame 
Ave the mouldering lines of a fading name. 

The moonbeams show through the drifting snow 
A long gray shadow in a long long roW 
That marks the place and de/ines the plan 
Of the last known home of Ececyman. 




O believ7e tkat deatk is tke 
end of life is to make tke 
ways of tke InrLriite aimless, 
and tke stris?ings of man 
worse tkan foolisk. 




SOMEDAY 

Someday someone Will look at me and say 
(joodhye and faceWell, and be upon his Way 
T^mong the lioing, while I go mine among the dead. 

7\nd someday someone will look at you 

When you are with the countless dead and he With the lioing few, 

nnd sigh, and pass on by, with measuved tread. 

Didst we sleep in potter's held or lie in state 

While round us gathered tears and looe or hate — 

For those who die what matters the how, the when, the why ? 

And 'twill matter not if songs Were sung or drums Were beat 
For sometime, somewhere, all men shall meet 
And life Will surge again for those who die. 




HE same inexplicable impulse tkat 
cluis^es constellations as parts or 
otkeu constellations about tkeit? 
mass ouLits tnrougn es?erlasting 
space and eternal tinae, nas toucnecL tke Soul 
of tke optimist wko kas built es7euy gueat 
building, dreaiiaed ev7euy great dream, fouioded 
eoevy great empire and laid e^^ery comer stone 
of civ?ili2ation, 

Tke image of God in man, is the impulse to 

create; wketker it be a migkty engine 

for tke betterment or tke race or 

a new toy for tke pleasure 

or a ckild. 




THE OPTIMIST 

TKe man v?no Kos rourul kls place in tne pecspectwe of tkings, poat, 
present and nxtuce, is an optimist. Tkat man knows tkat all merv 
ace only actors in tke nxos?ies of ev7ents. He steps in and. out of kis 
own reel Witkout ccow7cLing, attends to kis little job, sings kis little 
song, takes kis turn wpitkout complaining, and finally steps dow?n 
and out. 

Countless feet will pace o<cec kis covJeclet, and tke ages gone ar\A yet, 
will not know kim nor miss kinv noc cace. Noc will ke. 

Tke optimist sustains kim^sclf witk a pkilosopky tkat compcekends 
all time. Tkece is no tking tkat can kappen during tke ligkt en lied 
day tkat can cob kim, of tke sleep and tke dceanos tkat belong witk 
tke skadows called nigkt. 

*Tke ckildcen m.ake nvonuments of sand and build kouses of cards. 
Daddy tkougktlessly tramples tkem, doWn, but tke kiddies koperully 
build tkem up again. Tke daddies build tkeic own monum>ent8 of 
sand and ecect tkeic own kouses of cards, and Fatkec lime levels 
tkem, all. Yet, forester tke ckildren must keep on playing and tke 
daddies must keep on building, and foresJer Tim,e must keep on 
lev7eling I Kismet ; it is fate. 



TKe optimist blends tke secixjuaness of tkings wltk tkc fooliskness of 
tkings, estimates tke value of ecents by tke measure of all iim^, and 
goes unruffled on kls way. 

'Wken tke kouse of tke optinxist falls dovJn., ke does not Weep noc 
wail noc tear kis kaic. He gatkers wkat ke can wkece ke can and 
puts up anotkec kouse tkat is better tkan tke old one if ke can. 

On tke site of all tke kouses tkat kas7e ev?ec fallen down stand all tke 
kouses tkat now ace, Tkey ace tke best tke wocld ev^ec knew arxA 
tkey spell civ?ilization. If our kouses nev;ec fell down tkece would now 
be no room, foe moce. If men nes?ec died and naode Way foe better 
m,en ouc little eactk would long ago kas^e been snxotkeced by tke stone 
katckets. Men nxixst fove^ev build and men na^^st focesJec die, else 
tkece is no pcogcess and no destiny. inis, too, is fate. 

Tke optinxist looks out frovn kis wiixdow and sees good in tke cain 
and tke sun; ke sees kope in tke failuces of men; kis nxind puts palaces 
wkece kuts now stand, and tkcougk teacing down and building better, 
tkcougk deatk and, bictk, ke sees in tkat distant futuce tke keacen or 
tke Gkcistian, tke kunting gcound of tke cednxan, tke nicvana or tke 
ocient, and, witk tkis glinxpse of tke unattained, tucns as did Tvtoses 
from Ganoan and witk an urvdecstariding mirvd finds kappiness in 
tke day's wock. 



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